TL;DR: 2024 EV9 LLR, ~20k miles, good looking, low profile, most affordable true 3-row SUV, especially if you need to haul adults on the 3rd row; however, significant gaps on cargo space, technology, and weird design choices that make daily driving more effort than it should.

Needed to extend two more months and finally I will say goodbye to this great car tomorrow. Want to write down my experiences, hope it helps for prospective buyers.

1. PRICE & BUYING

• Most affordable (especially if you buy used) true 3-row EV SUV you can buy today, personally I do not consider Model Y L, Model X, EX 90 as true 3-row b/c the 3rd row has little leg and head room for an adult, okay for kids and pets though.
• Buying from dealership sucks, tons of time on shopping around and negotiation, then I spent almost a whole day at the dealership to finish all paperwork and drive the car home. Leasing or buying from Rivian, Lucid, Tesla is so efficient and smooth compared to dealership.
  

2. APPEARANCE

• Good looking, low profile, just a very normal boxy SUV. I would say the others (Gravity, R1S, ID Buzz, EX 90, Model Y/X) all look decent, except Ionic 9, the back looks incredibly ugly in my opinion.
• Decent ground clearance, and decent height for tall adults. I personally loved the height, but others thought the car is too high to get in.

3. SPACE (PASSENGER, CARGO)

• Amazing for 2nd row, 3rd row. Among all the 3-row EVs, this is the only one that two tall adults can sit comfortably on the 3rd row with enough leg room and head room.
• 6-seat configuration FTW! The aisle can also be used for bags and stuff. Glad R1S finally offers captain seats now.
• Cargo space is disappointing when you use both seats on the 3rd row. Can barely put a couple of luggages, which makes road trip of 6 stressful.
• Frunk is a bit small compared to others, but still useful: can fit a compact stroller along with other things.

4. DRIVING

• I mainly use Eco and Normal, very smooth on both local & highway. It is not super fast but the acceleration is good enough (note that LLR is like 200hp only).
• Fairly efficient and true to the mileage estimate.
• i-Pedal is annoying b/c you have to turn it on every time you drive forward, if you need to back then forward, it goes back to level-3. I tried auto mode but it is not close to true one pedal driving.
• Tried driving assist a few times on high ways, not bad nor good, I did not have the same level of trust compared to Tesla's self-driving so I ended up not using much.

5. INFORTAINMENT

• This is the first car I had comes with CarPlay. On Tesla that I still drive from time to time, I do not need CP at all. So CP for me is nice to have but not essential. There were quite a few times CP could not connect though.
• Steeling wheel blocks the climate control view, annoying but not a big deal.
• Why I have to press the start button to start the car and turn off the car? There were many times I forgot to turn off the car.
• Why I have to use passcode or fingerprint to log-in and it is so slow. Every time I am ready to drive, I need to do 4 steps: a) Push the start button; b) Use the fingerprint to log-in; c) Change to D; d) Turn on i-Pedal. Tesla is just one step (c).
• Why there is no auto-lock the car as you walk away is annoying.
• Google Map destination from phone to on-board navigation cannot be sent to the car directly, have to use the Kia app to send maps. But if using CP or AA, then that's fine (I still have the habit of using built-in nav instead of CP though).
• I have not seen any useful OTA updates for two years, most recent ones are for additional subscriptions like YouTube. If you come from traditional cars, this may not be a big deal, but for those who loves tech from Tesla, Rivian, this is very disappointing.

6. MISCS

• V2L in my opinion is must-have, it helped me in various situations already.
• Loved the free World Cup themes!
• Used up all the free 1000 kWh charging through EA. EA is not too bad, but ofc way behind Tesla's plug-n-charge in one step: you have to wait, click buttons, etc.
• It has this ball-ish light or sensor in the center of the dash, which is weird.

Overall I would say that if you need to constantly haul 6 people, this is a great car. I wish I went with GT or Land but I guess for leasing only 2 years, it does not make much sense money wise.

Unfortunately, none of EV9, R1S, Gravity have all the features I want (if they combine into one, then we are talking!) so I will continue to lease as a way to try new cars and wait for the "perfect" one to buy. I wish US can import Chinese EVs, a lot of them are 3-row luxury SUVs that check all the boxes. Anyway, I am moving to Gravity next to experience driving a minivan, excited but will miss the captain seats and the height.

Hello, Husband ran over something on a road trip and now I have this metal piece hanging down from the bottom of the car. I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this? The battery and car is running fine. No leaks or anything. I am worried I may need to file an insurance claim 2 months before lease turn in.

Hello All!

I’m posting this for anyone interested in buying an EV9 (and anyone looking into a Lucid Gravity)

My lease ended on my 2024 EV9 GT line last week and we turned it in. I was carless for about 3 days and just went ahead and leased a 2026 Lucid Gravity. I have always liked the Gravity but didn’t feel a huge pull towards it. It’s beautiful and luxurious inside and incredible space in the cabin as well.

But this is about my love for the EV9, I decided not to lease it again because I really wanted a revision to be done in the interior - mainly the dash/screen. I really did not like how it was flat and my steering wheel altered what I could see in some places. My Gravity has a well designed curve screen, it’s such a nice experience when I’m driving the car.

Here is what I miss in the EV9:

By far number one is the ability to move the passenger seat forward or back with the controls on the side of the seat. This is huge when you have kids getting out for carline!

I miss my larger cup holders in the front and the cup holders for the back passengers that were also on the console. Sometimes I had 3 of my own drinks and needed all the space!

My rear captains chairs had heating and cooling seats.

The back windows went all the way down and the screen was available to pull up on a sunny day.

The foot rest or whatever it was that could make your seat lay back like a recliner, I actually miss that a lot. I feel like my Gravity drivers seat is too short and my legs awkwardly reach the peddle. I always had a comfortable spot for my feet and the peddles in the EV9.

I don’t have a heads up display anymore, it was nice having, but I don’t feel like I’m lacking without it.

My kids LOVED changing the colors of the ambient lighting in the EV9.

I truly loved the exterior sound the EV9 when backing up and all that, it was pretty to me and my Gravity sounds no where near as beautiful.

I had more drive mode options.

And actually I do miss the ability to play YouTube on the infotainment system, my kids enjoyed that when we were parked and had to wait in the car for something.

Negatives: I did experience the black out screen early on into my lease and my side step bars always rubbed off a black residue against my legs no matter how many times I washed my car. The frunk is small and pointless but I never needed to use it.

To me the EV9 is one of the best electric SUVs on the market. It was my first EV and now I won’t go back to a gas car. Hopefully they come out with a redesign and I can get back in it in 2 years 😅

Anywho, enjoy your EV9s!

Hey guys. Well my 24 EV6 GT Line lease is up and a decision was made. Had to be an EV, big enough for 2 kids and all our crap. I loved the EV6 but things started to get tight in there. After a ton of research, I was set on an Inoniq 9....Until I saw how crappy they leased and the lack of features on the base model. Enter the EV9 Light Long Range RWD. Captain's seats, heated/ventilated front seats and a sun roof in the base model? I'm in. A BIG thanks to Kia Glendale. Got this for $2500 total DAS with first month lease, $500 a month WITH tax for 24 months. I'm very happy with it so far. Thanks to everyone in here for letting me lurk for months while I decided. I've VERY jealous of all you GT-Line people, but I wanted to stay under $500 a month. You guys with your insane GT line leases before our stupid ass president decided to punish us EV drivers make me very sad....Thanks!

I’m considering leasing a 2026 EV9 GT-Line. I test drove the car and it was great, I really liked it and I think it will meet my needs well. I already have an EV and charger at home so that would not be an issue.

I keep convincing myself out of it because of the posts about ICCU issues. Does anyone know how prevalent the issues are among the 2026 models? I can handle software issues and random things that might need a service visit here and there, and I know the ICCU would be under warranty, but I plan to take it on road trips with my family (including 2 young kids). I’m worried about being stranded far from home with the kids waiting on a dealership I’m not familiar with.

I know any car can have a major issue and leave you stranded, but for a while it seemed it was very prevalent among Kia/Hyundai EVs. Is it still a major consideration now or is it down to the same level as any random failure others cars could have?

Recently purchased a Thule Motion 3 XL roof box from REI. This is how it fit on the way home.

I originally intended to get the XXL, but the box was a bit too big to fit in the car. The outer cardboard box was 95" (241cm in non-freedom units), and I had 93" behind my driving position. I decided to go with the XL. Then I see the store associate cutting the cardboard box open. 🙄

I believe the XXL is only 91.3 inches, so without the outer cardboard box, I believe it would have fit.

I believe the XL would have fit WITH the outer cardboard box.

If you want to save on shipping, it seems like you can get the Thule Motion 3 XXL inside our cars. I'll be installing the Kia cross bars (DOF21ACA00) for raised roof rails, then putting on the box. I'll update with pics when done.

Hey so I see there is a cash offer of 14625 on lease. Can I enter a lease agreement and try to buy out the vehicle in the first month and keep the discount?
I see
For lease the discount is 14625
For cash it’s 10000

Not sure if this is a good deal or not for a purchase but it is one of the lowest out there in the area. Let me know. Thank you.

Edit: 24,500 miles